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Florida Man Drives a Stolen Car To Meet With Attorney General, Seeking Pardon

A convicted thief from Florida embarked on a 1,000-mile (1,600 km) drive from Miami to Washington D.C. to request a Presidential pardon.
Marcus Patmon, art thief that drove 1,000 miles in stolen car to seek Presidential pardon 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from video by NBC
Marcus Patmon, a 45-year-old man that was indicted for stealing art, got arrested in Arlington, Virginia, after he was caught attempting to get into a vehicle that had been reported stolen.

He left his home in Florida to meet with Eric Holder, who was an Attorney General, in an attempt to request a Presidential pardon from Barack Obama before the administration changed its leaders. It is worth noting that Mr. Holder was no longer the Attorney General, which made the Florida man decide to drive back to Miami.

As you can imagine, this happened last week, just days before the inauguration ceremony of the USA’s 45th President, Donald J. Trump. Patmon hoped that he could convince the Attorney General that he deserves having his record cleared of the charges that he pleaded guilty for in 2009 and served less than two years in prison.

It is unclear why Patmon waited almost five years since he was released from prison to request a pardon from the President of the USA. As NBC News reports, a significant part of the court record is sealed to this day, so it is not entirely clear what else happened with this man’s case beyond the prison time.

The FBI caught him after attempting to sell two stolen Picasso etchings along with a Marc Chagall lithographs. Those goods were worth over $500,000, which made the California art dealer that he contacted to become suspicious, so he planned a sting with the authorities.

The 45-year-old Florida man also has a previous conviction, of assault, which was filed in 2001. He told authorities that his art theft was supposed to bring his life back to “comfort” after his earlier conviction. As you can imagine, this has worked out perfectly for the art thief, who now has another potential sentence ahead of him.

 

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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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